| The Long Island Rail Road says it has lost personal
information -- names, addresses, Social Security numbers
and salary figures -- of virtually everyone who has
ever worked for the railroad, according to the Associated
Press.
Iron Mountain,
Incorporated -- a Boston company -- employed by the
railroad to warehouse and secure information at an
undisclosed storage site, discovered the loss on April
6.
During a routine
delivery between LIRR headquarters in Jamaica and
the storage site -- an Iron Mountain driver noticed
that at least one unmarked box was missing.
The LIRR said
MTA Police and the NYPD were immediately notified.
On Monday,
the railroad mailed a letter from LIRR President James
Dermody to approximately 17,000 current and former
employees, notifying them about the lost information.
The LIRR has
about 6,000 current employees.
Newsday reports
that the letter said the information on the computer
discs was formatted in a way that is very difficult
to access without specialized skills, specific software
and sophisticated computer equipment.
The LIRR agreed
to provide anyone at risk with a free one-year enrollment
with a credit check and identity theft monitoring
service.
The railroad
has also set up a Web site and telephone hotline for
employees with questions about the missing data. |
